YinTx

Looks pretty good! The backgrounding resembles stingray. The slash for the peg is a bit painful for me... your stitching is pretty nice for having only been at this for a year! YinTx

This is fun. I went to a short class with Jim Linnell when I had the opportunity at the IFOLG show. My wreckerative cuts suck. So I stood next to him at the end of class and watched him work, very smooth, quick, easy. I handed him my knife, said "Hey, my decorative cuts are miserable. I want to make sure it is me and not the knife." He said "Almost never the fault of the knife. Hey, your blade has a nice polish on it." He made a few cuts, did fine, handed it to the other guy teaching the class, who put down his really nice looking super spinner swiveler, and cut with mine. Says "hey, I actually like this knife!" I said "Great, you want to trade?" (he declined lol). So clearly the performance of the tool was in the hand of the beholder. I also got better when I put a different blade that I had sharpened a bit better in, and a little bit better after a few hundred cuts. I still kinda suck though. I also watched a guy put a super razor sharp edge on a Japanese kitchen knife with a brick - from his back yard. I've put a decent edge on a knife with a broken cheap stone. Also a pretty good edge with a pricey stone. If I had the skill and no $$, the brick will do. With a bit of skill and a bit of $$, the nicer stone is fun to use, and I can get a little bit better results with it than I would a brick. I have a basket weave stamp that won't go straight to save my life. Have a Robert Beard that goes straight as an arrow no challenge. As my momma always said, you pays your money, you takes your chances! I've been itchin for a nice blade in a nice swivel knife, but for now, my old Tandy blade is cuttin along. YinTx

zipperstop, buckle guy, pacific trimming all sell zippers. I am sure there are others. YinTx

I have a few spools of green thread, don't know if they will match what you are looking for, but if you discover what the color is called, I'll look to see if the greens I have will match. Could send you some at that point. YinTx

My story is a bit different. I have a weak eye, in other words it just goes off on it's own, and my brain can shut out the input from that eye. I can cross it at will. When I am tired, I have to choose which of the lanes on the freeway to use, since my brain can't seem to shut it out well when I am tired. When I was young, they discovered I skipped letters when I read them out. I read by the shape of the word. I believe part of why I could never draw is because I couldn't really see where I was putting the pencil. They gave me glasses, which I didn't wear very often. I did eye exercises and put the glasses away. My distant eyesight was really pretty good, and I had no troubles reading. I have been called Eagle Eyes many times. Fast forward to earlier this year, and about the same age as you, decided to get an eye test. I knew I had astigmatism, etc. Doc prescribed some glasses for up close work. I used them for about a week, and the up close world came really into focus for me, and I was able to do some really nice tiny tooling. But then, within 2 weeks of getting glasses, something strange happened. I could no longer read much of anything without them! This is really frustrating for me, since I never had this issue before. I do wish I had just gotten some magnifiers for the up close work. I wear the glasses only for tooling and stitching now, force myself to read without them. YinTx

Is that lined, hand stitched, and edge painted? YinTx

D439 and D606 are close, but it looks like a custom stamp. If you show it to one of the stamp makers, I imagine they can recreate it for you. YinTx

I have wanted one to keep as a "user" I think this fits the bill! Managed to get it for much less than that, so I think I did ok. It is uncomfortable with the "hangnail" since it is pretty sharp. My guess was the same as yours, alcohol lamp, but I suppose it could have been anything. The knife is well shaped, and inspires confidence. The blade is thinner than I expected and has a ring to it. I think I'm going to enjoy it! After I clean it up, I have some Tsubaki Oil (Cammellia oil) that I'll treat it with, should help preserve it well. Bruce, thank you for chiming in here, I really appreciate it. I intend to use this knife, so I'll take your advice and put some time filing the ferrule and cleaning up the blade, perhaps the black is just oil soaked rust, time to see what is underneath! I'm curious to see if the handle has a nice grain or not. I probably should have cleaned it up before I sharpened it, to avoid any opportunity of cuts etc, but I was just too anxious to know if I could get a nice clean edge on it. In about 30 minutes or so I had a scary sharp edge, so, yeah! May have to purposely dull it so I can safely clean it up now. I can see some pretty deep pits in the body of the blade, you can see them in the photos. I don't expect those to come out. Speaking of hardness, has anyone tried to get a Rockwell reading on one? Would they vary much due to manufacturing techniques of the day? YinTx

Thanks for that ton of info you shared. I agree on the rust: I want it out of the lettering. The blackening on the blade I think would be patina, and I am fine with that. Unless someone tells me otherwise! I do intend this for a user, but I like to preserve value when I can. I can manage using the handle that way, but if it doesn't affect value one way or another, then I don't mind replacing it either. Since you have been on the lookout for a Rose yourself, would you consider this one decent condition or no? And what would you have considered a good price for it? I'm wondering if I got a deal or a rip off, lol. YinTx

Outstanding! Stitching is about perfect as far as I can tell! I like the pattern on the spine. YinTx

Hahahah I had never heard of that single malt before, so I looked it up, and the guy says do not give this to a novice scotch drinker, because if you do, he will never never ever ever drink a scotch single malt whiskey again. Seems it is pretty peaty and smoky! I'd happily trade a set of these for a bottle tho... Thank you. Okay, I thought I was doin well to know Glenmorangie, Glenlivet, and Lagavulin, then here you all go tossing these new names about. Going to make me broke trying to see how they are! The Highland Park sounds really good... I see the glitch... now I can't unsee it lol. I ended up with an old bar grounder in a set of tools I recently bought, and I used it solely on this one. I think it has 6 rounds(?), so it was a bit difficult to use, but I had better results with it than any of the bargrounders I own. It is probably the best bar grounding I have done, thank you for noticing. Oye. I can only drink so many a night... going to go under here! And thanks! If you are looking to match this look, I used Fiebeng's brown to dye the background, and Sheridan Brown paste antique. YinTx

So, Merry Christmas to me! Managed to acquire a Rose round knife, and I have been looking for a nice round knife for over a year now. Hoping to get some experts to chime in and tell me what they can about this knife - age, condition, value, etc. These photos were taken as I was sharpening it, only using the 1200 grit Atoma stone, and followed up with a broken little natural stone I have, then some stropping, it is push cut sharp on a piece of paper. The burr took forever to work off! I am curious about the beveling that you can see in the close up photo of the edge. It looks like 3 bevels: a gradual, then a steeper, and finally the cutting bevel. Is this an original bevel? seems to have never been sharpened on the 2 big bevels? I don't see any wear or any metal loss on the edge beyond the bevel I put, so I did very little work on it. I like the patina, but worry about continued rust. Do I need to do something to condition the metal? Can I just use some steel wool on the lettering to remove the rust, or should i be using vinegar or some such thing? The brass ferrule has a bit of a hangnail on it that is fairly sharp. Can I file it off, or will that degrade value? Also, the handle looks like it was burned at one time - how much of an issue is this? I don't know if I like the handle patina enough to leave it alone or not, but if it affects the future value too much if I fiddle with it, I will leave it alone. YinTx

Campbell's sewing machine? (needle/awl machine). Still not really a saddle stitch, but gets you closer. Not sure it'll work on the thinner stuff either. I think if a machine that saddle stitched thick thread on thin leather without marking the leather existed, everyone would be using it. YinTx

Drew up some, traced some, carved it all. Took the shading in further on the "stickers" or leaves, but not too sure how to bevel and shade that leaf on the left. After I figure that out, have to make 3 more for a set! 3.5"x3.5" coaster. I have since burnished the edges. Enjoy. YinTx

Video settings, speed 2x, now 6 minutes and done. Plus, changes the tone of Sam if you so desire. Awesome video, to go along with that Duncan mold I just acquired... can't wait. Thanks for pointing the way! YinTx

This is the way to use it. Reduced, with a lot of buffing! After a seal, you should expect no rub off. It is a beautiful dark black, but a bit of work to get there. I've used vinagaroon as well, sometimes with luck, and a couple of times ruined the piece with too much baking soda neutralizer. This didn't show up until a year or so after use. I just stick with the dye now to avoid the risk. I did like the color I got with the 'roon tho. I'll be curious to see what you end up using, and how it works for you, @TLP. YinTx

I also found that with Tiger thread, when you tamp the stitch down, that "twist" can disappear. Otherwise, yeah frustrating. I enjoy my linen threads for this reason as well: I don't have the issue since they are round! YinTx

I have used Angelus dyes, and I like the colors that I get - the winetone is one of my favorites. However, I do get a ton of rub off with them as well. My experience, anyhow. YinTx

As far as natural, the only thing I would think of would be beeswax, but not really a "sealant" in the purest sense of the word. As mentioned, the oils lubricate/nourish the leather, but do not provide protection or seal in any colorants. YinTx

I think they are both alcohol based, but the "Pro" or "Oil" dyes are a different beasts. The USMC Black is a pigment dye, with a lot of pigment, so it will come off for a long time with all the buffing. The "Pro" dye seems to bind and not buff off very much, which is nice. I have used the Eco Flo black dye with luck in the past, no rub off, but that is different to apply and many aren't able to get it down pat. YinTx

Very elegant, well done. Look forward to seeing more! YinTx

Turned out perfect! And the photo cracks me up: the calendar in the back says "Resolve to be more fit" with two boxes of snacks in front of it, and a jolly ol Saint Nick, whose belly.. well you know! at first I thought it said "Resolve to be more fat!" YinTx

Fiebeng's Black Pro Oil dye worked well for me in the past. Unless you like to buff and buff and buff, stay away from the USMC Black that Fiebeng's sells. YinTx